Adventures in Dating
by ravyncat
Summary: Is it possible for our fearless ghost hunters to manage something really scary, like a relationship? Or will ghosts, nosy friends, and unexpected rivals get in the way? Mostly very silly fluff. Mai x Naru. Takigawa x Ayako. Other pairs? Maybe.
1. An Unexpected Party: Part 1

**AN: The idea for this one came from several odd sources. It is an attempt at comedy/romance, and hopefully it will work. This is mainly Mai x Naru, and Bou-san x Ayako. **

(4/30 EDIT: LOL...took the implied out with Bou-san & Ayako because it _is_ pretty obvious. I have also fixed my consistent incorrect placement of punctuation within the quotes...otherwise this is unchanged.)**  
**

I always wanted to know what exactly would happen if they tried to date. Here is my take on it.

This is my first attempt at GH fan fiction. So bear with me.

Obviously I don't own Ghost Hunt. The characters all belong to Fuyumi Ono. I'm just playing with them.

* * *

**Adventures in Dating: A Ghost Hunt fan fiction**

**Chapter one: An Unexpected Party  
**

They could have found the party from the noise alone. Laughter and music echoed down the sparsely populated street, which was located in an equally empty neighborhood. The area was a new building project and most of the empty homes were half finished at best. The narrow street was lined with an irregular border of parked cars that pointed the way. Light streamed from all the windows of the large two story house, which was the only finished house on that end of the street. The house was obviously packed with people. The crowd spilled out to fill the front yard and several people were sitting in the grass under a tree listening to someone play a guitar. Inside, the couches and dark corners were already filled with dangerously close couples and the air was hazy with cigarette and other types of smoke.

Naru eyed the scene with distaste, though his face remained calm as always. He glanced at the nervous girl beside him and sighed.

"...You really want to go in there?" he asked her, even though he knew the answer.

Mai nodded and tried to look confident. She was more intimidated by the large crowd than she wanted to admit. This "small" party looked like it had at least two hundred attendees, if not more.

"Don't even think about trying to back out now," she said and determinedly grabbed his hand. Naru was surprised, but did his best not to let it show.

"All we have to do is say hi to Michiru and mingle a bit. It can't be that bad. Who knows, it might even be fun," Mai added with a tense smile.

He bemusedly let her drag him into the noisy hell and wondered again why exactly he had agreed to this.

* * *

Neither were aware that they were being watched from behind a large red SUV parked on the edge of the street. Two pairs of curious eyes followed the teens as they entered the house.

"...I don't believe it," the tall sandy haired man finally said. He looked completely shocked. "Were they really holding hands? Isn't that like a sign of the apocalypse?"

The elegantly dressed woman next to him laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Really Houshou, it shouldn't be _that_ much of a surprise," she said and flipped her long red hair. "Mai has had a thing for him for a while."

"Yeah...but did you ever expect him to act human enough to notice?"

She pondered that for a moment. "Good point."

They both turned to look at the house that was obviously hosting a giant party. It really didn't look like a place either of their coworkers would normally go. To see them go inside together on what appeared to be a date was odd to say the least. Scary was a more fitting description. The thought of their extremely serious young boss acting like he was a normal teenager who did things like go to drunken parties was mind boggling.

The man, who was a fairly well known studio musician, leaned against the SUV. There was no need to hide behind it now. People who didn't know him well often assumed he was an airhead because of his fun loving personality. They were invariably surprised by the sharp mind that lurked behind his light brown eyes. He was staring at the house now with the intent look he usually reserved for his other job, which was exorcising evil spirits in his official capacity as a monk.

"I would love to be a fly on the wall in there," he said thoughtfully.

His companion laughed and leaned against him. "You just want to spy on them," she teased. He shrugged, unrepentant.

"It was my turn to pick what we wanted to do tonight," he reminded her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down for a kiss.

"Then start thinking of how we are going to crash the party," she whispered against his mouth. " I will never forgive you if this is a boring date."

He grinned at her and winked suggestively. "You're with me babe. I can promise you won't be bored."

She snorted and poked him. "Pervert. I'm serious though. I want to know how in the world Mai got him to go to a party."

* * *

_**Earlier that Day**_

Even Naru, who was not very observant when it came to other people, had noticed that something was wrong with his part time assistant. She had been acting weird all afternoon with her face alternating between a sickly shade of white and a furious red blush. Most damning of all she had managed to spill not one, but _two_ cups of tea.

"Mai!" He was completely exasperated after having to catch what would have been the third cup of tea spilled on his desk that day. "What is wrong with you?"

She immediately flushed and stared at the floor. He noticed she was fidgeting with her clothes which was something she only did in times of extreme stress. Naru spent a useless moment trying to remember if he had recently done anything to upset her. He sighed irritably when he realized what he was doing.

Mai looked up at the sound and seemed to come to a decision. She abruptly turned and walked towards the door, and he thought she was going to leave without offering any explanation. Instead she shut his office door and stalked back to his desk with a determined look in her brown eyes.

He raised one eyebrow at her and sipped his tea to cover his confusion at her odd behavior.

"I-I need to ask a favor."

"...And?" he prompted after a minute passed and she failed to elaborate.

"Today is Michiru's birthday," she said, as if that explained everything.

"...So?"

Mai frowned at his sarcasm. "Her boyfriend is throwing her a party. She wants me to be there, but warned me I shouldn't go alone...er...unless I..." her voice trailed off and she glanced away. "And I don't," she added cryptically, still not looking at him. For some reason she looked embarrassed.

Naru was completely lost. At this rate, it would take Mai all afternoon to get to the point. Unlike her, he actually did have work that needed to be finished today.

"Mai, just tell me what the favor is," he said impatiently.

She swallowed and then said it all at once. "Iwantyoutocomewithmeplease."

"What?" He couldn't possibly have heard that right.

"Come with m-me to the p-party," she said more coherently. Her face was so red she looked like she had a sunburn.

Naru blinked. "No."

Mai glared at him, and he recognized her stubborn expression. It was the same one she always had when they were about to argue.

"No," he reiterated. The last thing he wanted to do was attend some idiotic high school party.

She stamped her foot in irritation. "Hear me out."

Brown eyes met blue in a brief staring match. Naru looked away first with a sigh.

"My friends are trying to set me up with some guys they know," Mai explained. "If I go alone, then it will be assumed that I'm okay with that. I'm not," she added with a scowl.

"Then don't go," he said logically.

Mai sighed and looked exasperated. She rolled her eyes towards the ceiling and flung her arms out dramatically. "Don't you ever do anything remotely social? I want to go. I just don't want to be harassed by random guys while I'm there."

"Why ask me?"

"You are the only guy I know who is believable as someone I'd date," Mai blurted out. "Bou-san is fun, but Ayako would get mad if he went somewhere with me," she continued hastily. "I also doubt anyone would believe he wasn't my brother, so I'd still have to fend off Tanaka-san. John would probably go with me, but he's not intimidating enough to deter anyone." Mai paused and looked at the ceiling as she continued her train of thought. "A priest probably wouldn't be comfortable at a party anyway," she concluded.

"No doubt." He caught himself wondering if she had really ranked them all as possible dates and squelched the thought.

"Yasuhara-san would be all right, and we would have fun together...but I don't trust him not to scheme something. I don't want to go out with Tanaka-san or his friends, but that doesn't mean they deserve to be picked on. I have to go to school with them, so I'd rather not worry about possible repercussions from some prank."

Naru was surprised she had put so much thought into this. "What about Lin?" he asked, curious as to what she would say.

"Lin-san...is well Lin-san," Mai said and shrugged. "I just can't imagine him at a party...He would look like an undercover cop or something."

Naru snorted. He could agree with that. "So, I'm what...the lesser of the evils?" he said with a smirk. Her observations about their fellow SPR members were entertaining. That was all. It wasn't like he was the least bit interested in knowing why he had made it to the top of her weird little list.

She nodded, looking a bit relieved. "I can trust you not to humiliate me in front of my friends. And you are scary enough that no one will bother me."

He frowned slightly, not sure how to take that.

"It's not like I'm asking you on a real date or anything," Mai added, nervously waving her hands.

"Mai, I don't really..."

"Please!" she interrupted him. Her brown eyes stared at him pleadingly. "Please, Naru. I'll owe you. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please."

Naru sighed. Dammit.

"Pleeaase!"

"What time does it start?" he said resigned.

* * *

**What will happen at the party? Will this somehow turn into a real date? Will Bou-san and Ayako successfully sneak inside? Is disaster imminent? Stay tuned to find out.**


	2. An Unexpected Party: Part 2

**A.N. **Finally this one started to work again. I got caught up with creepy clowns and massive insecurity.

Ah well, I still have no confidence in my ability to write comedy, but hopefully this will still be fun to read. This is intended to be silly, so there will likely be some stupid parts. Same characters, but not the same time-line or GH universe as Echoes. This is a happier fluffier place.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. Sorry you had to wait so long for an update. This might have some slight spoilers because time-wise it is set after the anime ends. I'm not planning on being excessive with them, but spoilery things might be mentioned in passing.

I keep mentioning this, but Ghost Hunt belongs to Fuyumi Ono. I'm just playing in her world.

* * *

**Adventures in Dating: A Ghost Hunt fan fiction**

**Chapter Two: A Tale of Two Dates**

_**Earlier that Night**_

It had started out as a more conventional type of date. Takigawa had intended to take Ayako out to dinner and then maybe to a movie she had mentioned wanting to see. He had been working late night gigs all week and was too tired to be more creative with his pick of activities. The half formed plans had changed though when they unexpectedly spied their secretive boss.

Ayako had suggested a trendy restaurant in Shibuya, and that is where they had been headed. The restaurant just happened to be close to the SPR offices. They had been stopped at a traffic light when Ayako had pointed out a familiar black clad figure walking across the street.

"Hey...Isn't that Naru?"

Seeing him out at that time of night—it was early evening—wasn't so odd; they knew he lived in the area. It was odd to see him dressed so casually though. While his clothes were still black, he was wearing jeans with his trademark long sleeved black shirt and looked more like a normal teenager than usual.

"I wonder where he's going?" Ayako mused. If it had been anyone else _but_ Naru, she would have assumed he was going out to do something social at this particular hour on a Saturday night.

Takigawa shrugged and idly drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. It _was_ slightly weird to think of the young director of SPR actually having any sort of a social life. Scratch that, it was extremely weird. What did the uber serious paranormal researcher do on his own time anyway? The germ of an idea started to form in his mind. He glanced at Ayako and raised one eyebrow.

"Want to follow him and see?"

He wasn't surprised to see her grin in reply. They really did think alike—it was one of the reasons they got along so well.

"Hell yes," she said. "I would love to find out some dirt on him."

Takigawa had obligingly driven around the block and had begun their covert intelligence gathering operation. They had been disappointed at first because Naru merely walked to the SPR office. It wasn't fun at all to spy on him if he was just going to _work_. Then things had gotten interesting when the teen unexpectedly borrowed the black company van from out of the parking lot.

"Huh," Takigawa said. "I didn't know he had a license. Did you?"

Ayako shook her head. "No. I find this _highly_ suspicious."

They had decided to keep following their boss. Speculation as to his possible actions kept them thoroughly entertained.

"He must be hiding something," Ayako theorized. "Do you think has a secret girlfriend?"

"Why would he hide it though?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Maybe for the same reason we haven't announced anything, hmm?"

"But we aren't exactly hiding anything...we are just maintaining 'strategic secrecy'," he said in an eerily accurate imitation of Naru.

Ayako gasped in mock horror. "Don't you dare," she said between giggles. "If you start wearing all black, I am dumping you."

"But I look good in black." He dodged the jab she aimed at his head. "Careful woman," he cautioned. "He'll notice us if we swerve all over the road."

Ayako shot him a slightly annoyed glance but stopped her violent actions. Takigawa suspected she was just saving it for later. She was a little too feisty at times, but he liked that about the tempestuous redhead.

"Maybe he has a boyfriend instead," she said thoughtfully, continuing their earlier conversation. "_That _would explain why he was never interested in me. He didn't much like going out with Masako either."

He burst out laughing at the idea. Takigawa had noticed too many covert glances aimed at a certain brown haired girl (when the boss thought no one was paying attention) to believe his interests strayed from the opposite sex. It was more likely that Ayako—lovely as she was—was just too old to interest the teen. Not wanting to risk death—he was trying to drive after all—Takigawa wisely kept that thought to himself.

"Naru?! No way. I think he probably considers relationships to be a waste of time. Wasn't Masako-chan blackmailing him or something? I don't think you can blame him for not appreciating that."

Ayako snorted. "That's true enough," she said grudgingly. "I suppose there is just no accounting for taste," she added with a flip of her long red hair.

Takigawa had no doubts as to whose taste was being called into question. Ayako was easily as vain as she was beautiful. "I said you were hot the first day we met," he reminded her with a grin.

"I remember. I thought you were a horribly perverted fallen monk."

He caught one of her hands and kissed it. "And now?"

"Now I _know_ you are a horribly perverted monk," she said with an answering grin.

The van they were following made a sudden right turn after unexpectedly veering across a lane of traffic without the use of turn signals. Takigawa frowned and quickly got into the correct lane to turn. (He did make sure to use the turn signals.) He had almost forgotten the purpose of this drive.

"No wonder Lin always drives," Ayako said, wide eyed after watching a car almost skid into the back of the van.

"Maybe he knows we are following him and is trying to get away."

"Or he wasn't paying attention and almost missed the exit."

He raised one eyebrow. "The boy genius miss something obvious like an exit sign? Never!" he said pretending to be shocked.

"He misses other things that are equally obvious," Ayako said with a smirk. "I don't think he has any idea how much Mai likes him. If I were her, I'd have given up on him long ago."

Takigawa almost mentioned his suspicions concerning the validity of her statement—he was pretty sure Naru wasn't _quite_ as clueless as she assumed—but decided he didn't want to discuss Mai dating anyone. He didn't want to think of _any_ male taking advantage of the very innocent, and very cute, young girl. It would probably take years for anything to happen between those two—neither of them seemed inclined to act on whatever was going on between them. By the time they managed to figure it out, Mai would be older, and he wouldn't feel so over protective—_maybe_.

"That boy is much more likely to run his own crime ring than to have a secret relationship. I could see him heading up an elite group of criminals," he said in an effort to change the subject. The dark street they were driving along was in a slightly bad neighborhood which was what put the idea in his head.

His comment made Ayako snicker. "Like a mafia boss? Or better yet an evil genius bent on world domination? He probably marks people for death with his 'glare of doom'. Lin is his enforcer who kills people by remote sound waves he triggers while typing," she agreed solemnly, and then they both laughed again.

About that time, the van they were following turned onto another street they recognized. Both had been there before. It shouldn't have been such a surprise to see the apartment complex Naru finally stopped at—especially considering observations both of them had made regarding the two people in question—but it was.

"Eh? Isn't this where..." Takigawa began.

His voice trailed off as the girl that lived there bounced down the stairs and met Naru about half way between the building and the street. If their boss' casual clothes were suspicious, Mai's dressier than usual ones were doubly so. The cheerful part timer was wearing a short shimmery pink dress that showed off her figure and left her arms and shoulders bare except for thin straps. She had on silver ballet flats and was wearing a little more makeup than usual. She looked very pretty and more grown up than they were accustomed to seeing her. While it wasn't outrageous—the dress was close fitting, but still fairly modest—_everything_ about her outfit suggested she was dressed up for a date.

They both stared in silence as their teen coworkers spoke for a moment and then walked together back towards the SPR van. There were no obvious signs of affection between the two—they didn't even talk long, and Mai looked irritated like whatever he had said to her had pissed her off—but the fact that they were going somewhere together outside of work was highly suspect.

"Oh. My. God," Ayako said and grinned. This..._this_ was much better than anything she thought they might discover on their spying mission. This could possibly yield enough embarrassing material to put the brat in his place for once. She had never won a verbal argument with him, and the idea of having something solid she could tease him about was delicious.

Takigawa felt strangely shocked, even though he had just been contemplating the possibility of those two being together sometime in the—_distant, far distant, dammit_—future. Was his adopted daughter—_his Little Girl_—actually dating her _boss?_ The idea bothered him on several levels. He decided the young man would need a strong talking to if that was the case. His semi-grumpy and confused parental feelings made the drive out to the isolated house a bit less fun than the one that preceded it.

Ayako, however, was in good spirits and cackled almost the entire way.

* * *

_**Back to the Present**_

Hell was a very apt description for the party. The house was hot and a bit too dark, extremely loud and filled with writhing shadowy figures that Naru could imagine would be at home in a Hieronymus Bosch painting. _Well maybe it wasn't quite that bad_, he mentally amended. But it was bad enough.

With the exception of his brother, Naru had never spent much time with people his own age. He had never wanted to. Naru had been more comfortable associating with adults since he was a small child—probably because he thought like them. Teenagers as a whole, though there were exceptions like Yasuhara, seemed too illogical and immature in contrast—too emotional by far—and he rarely had anything in common with them. His life had been harsh and too serious for him to waste time indulging in frivolous activities. There was too much work and research that needed to be done.

Nothing he had observed so far at this party had changed his opinion. Most of the people appeared to be inebriated to some degree—few of them were twenty either, so they were underage drunks—and they acted even more idiotic as a result. Mai, despite her annoying quirks, really was mature compared to most of her peers—no doubt that was the reason he _usually_ didn't mind his assistant's company

She was irritating him now because she refused to let go of his hand. Naru never did insipid things like hand holding given the choice—the excessive contact made him uncomfortable. He also had to stop and at least nod politely with every person she chose to talk to. Normally that would have been irritating, but not too bothersome—he had sufficient social skills to interact in any company. However Mai was being hit on by almost every guy she chatted with—to be fair, she seemed unaware of this—and he was getting tired of it. She had specifically asked him not to embarrass her by making caustic remarks, so he held his tongue, but the effort showed on his usually blank face.

"Hey," she hissed after pulling him into yet another stuffy overcrowded room. "Stop scowling."

He frowned at her—no doubt increasing his scowl—and rolled his eyes. "How am I supposed to look then?"

"Just...stop looking so disapproving. These people are my friends and you are freaking them out. This is supposed to be _fun_. Pretend that you actually want to be here with me."

Naru sighed and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache looming. Despite what she had just said, he had seen no signs of anyone "freaking out." If they did, good; it meant they were getting the message. Mai had coerced him into agreeing to this by claiming she didn't want to "be harassed by random guys." In direct contrast to that claim, she had chosen to wear a short rose colored dress that was guaranteed to draw the eye of every male she passed. It wasn't his fault if he found her mixed messages annoying. He expected her to be clueless, but really, she was old enough to have more common sense. Maybe if she acted a little more like she wanted to be there with_ him _instead of chatting with every guy she met, he wouldn't be scowling. That last thought caught him by surprise and annoyed him even more. His initial impression that attending this party was a bad idea had just been confirmed. It wasn't like him—_at all_—to care about such inconsequential things.

"I thought you picked me because I _am_ scary," he reminded her.

Mai rolled her eyes. "I only want you to be scary towards a few people...not everyone."

Naru sighed again. He didn't know what to say to that. Despite being a genius, he was discovering he had no more luck understanding how a woman's mind worked than any other man. Mai kept making contradictory illogical statements and then reversing them. _What the hell did she actually want?_ He was saved from having to answer by the appearance of more of Mai's friends. She finally let go of his hand to hug them, so at least that small irritation was resolved. The three girls were shrilly greeting her, and they looked vaguely familiar. Hopefully one of them would be the birthday girl, and they could leave soon.

* * *

Across the room a group of teenage boys were closely observing Taniyama and the dark haired boy she had brought as an escort. All of them were tall and known throughout the school for being tough. Most of them were members of the school's kendo team.

"I don't know. He looks kind of goth to me," one of them said. "She seems too cheerful to like that type."

One of his buddies snorted. "Taniyama looks hot though. It's obvious she dressed up for some reason. He got pissed when I told her she looked good too."

"Who wouldn't get mad?" another asked. "Damn. If a girl that looked like that was with me, I wouldn't let her even look at other guys."

The leader of the kendo club, one Tanaka Ryuu, kept his opinions to himself as he sipped his drink. The object of his affections did indeed look lovely tonight. It didn't matter to him if Taniyama-san had a boyfriend. He was confident in his ability to woo her away. The guy she had brought was tall, but slender—obviously he didn't do anything like kendo for exercise. Tanaka was pretty sure he could take him easily in a fight if it came to that—not that he thought it would. Unlike some of his friends, he did think things through. Taniyama-san would not respond well to anything like an open fight. He would have to somehow get the guy alone and intimidate him. His gray eyes narrowed as he studied the couple and started to scheme.

* * *

Outside, the two older members of SPR were still wondering what sort of excuse would be believable enough to gain them entrance to the party. It was doubtful that Naru would let any sort of spying go without a harsh penalty of some sort. Even if he was only eighteen, their boss was formidable and not someone to be crossed lightly. That knowledge didn't deter them. It only meant they would have to be careful to not get caught.

"Yo! Norio. That you, man?"

Takigawa turned in surprise when he heard someone call out _that_ name. No one called him that except when he was performing. He grimaced inwardly when he recognized the short thirty-ish blond haired man who was walking around the red SUV towards them.

Watanabe Daiki was the drummer of his band. Takigawa had spent enough time working with him to realize the man was a borderline pedophile. The drummer dyed his spiky hair blond and expertly copied the fashion styles of more famous musicians. He was a great showman and was easily the most popular member of the band when it came to the ladies. Daiki was also the only band member who actually dated their teenage fans. In fact he had both arms around suspiciously young looking girls even now.

_Eech. We really should kick him out_, Takigawa thought. Too bad Daiki was such a good drummer. His flashy style was backed with real talent and drew people to their shows. It was a dilemma the other band members had all discussed more than once.

"Yo," he said back, a fake smile on his face. Why wasn't he surprised to find Daiki at a large party of teenagers? Come to think of it, the man had mentioned a party yesterday and invited them all. Had it actually been this party?

"Oh ho...I see you brought the old lady too," Daiki said with a leer in Ayako's direction.

He seemed totally oblivious to the frigid glare the redhead shot him. She also despised Daiki—enough that she rarely went to gigs because he would also be there.

"You going inside?" he continued with a nod towards the building. "I didn't think any of y'all would actually come."

Ayako opened her mouth to tell the rude little man off. She was surprised when Houshou took her hand and shook his head at her. She raised one eyebrow, fully prepared to transfer her ire to her boyfriend.

"Sure. We were just waiting for someone we knew," he said with a charming smile directed at the odious drummer.

Daiki laughed and then started walking towards the house with his teen escorts. Ayako was still angry and not pleased when Houshou pulled her after them.

"What..." she began in an angry whisper.

"It's our chance to get inside," he whispered back. "Don't look a gift toad in the mouth, Eh?"

She shook her head at the thought of pretending to be there with the drummer. The little man offended her on so many levels. On the other hand, it did get them into the house. Apparently "Norio" also had quite a few fans among the teenagers there. They were in—now all they had to do was find the couple they had come to spy on.

* * *

So this one ended up being mostly Ayako and Bou-san. Those two just took the chapter and ran with it.

**Chapter Three Preview:**

My ideas involve more Mai POV—there was none here. More Tanaka-san and his kendo thugs...er...buddies, the reappearance of Kuroda-san (anyone remember her?), a ouija board (the US version, not the version used in the anime), and alcohol consumption. The police might even be called. O.O;;


End file.
